April 26, 2001
Moncton, New Brunswick

This my first chance to come back to New Brunswick since Campaign 2000. When the people of Canada did our Party the great honour of giving us their trust and confidence for a third straight majority mandate.

As many in this room will know, regaining our strength in Atlantic Canada was one of our top priorities last fall. And we succeeded. I want to thank the people of New Brunswick for returning more Liberal MPs last November. Dominic LeBlanc, Jeannot Castonguay and Andy Savoy are excellent additions to our team.

The credit for our resurgence goes, of course, to the hard work of our volunteers. To our re-elected caucus: Claudette Bradshaw, Charles Hubbard and Andy Scott, who were strong voices in creating our platform. And especially in the creation of the new $700 million Atlantic Investment Partnership, whose goal is to help Atlantic Canada embrace the new economy.

And to our record in government. To our balanced approach of economic growth and jobs, of lower taxes and lower debt, of strategic investments in innovation, children, health care and our environment.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is also the first opportunity I have had to address a Canadian audience since hosting the Summit of the Americas last weekend in Quebec City.

I have been in public life for almost 40 years now. In that time as an MP, Cabinet Minister and as Prime Minister, it has been my honour to represent Canada on the world stage many times. To proudly wear the Maple Leaf on my lapel.

Although I know that we Canadians don’t like to boast, I feel I can say that I have never been involved in a more positive, productive or open gathering. And I have never had such substantive discussions as those that took place in Quebec, nor met a group of leaders who had a firmer grasp of the issues, a greater willingness to engage in frank and honest dialogue, or a deeper commitment to building a brighter future for their people.

I have also never been more impressed than by the welcome that the people of Quebec City extended to the 33 democratically-elected leaders of La Gran Familia of the Americas. Or the patience and understanding they showed in the face of the unique and challenging circumstances we faced as the Summit host.

Who recognized that Canada is a truly blessed nation. And that with such blessings come responsibilities. The responsibilities of being a world citizen. Responsibilities that are more important than ever as the world becomes a smaller, more connected more interdependent place.

They believed that the mainspring of our foreign policy must not only be strategic and commercial interests -- but also people and values. Canadian values. Values of peace, freedom, diversity, sharing. compassion, dialogue, respect for human rights and the rule of law.

This fundamental commitment has served to focus Canadian foreign policy on building international support for institutions and actions whose point of reference is the protection and enhancement of the lives of people and their communities.

That is why Mackenzie King and Louis St. Laurent established Canada’s credentials as a steadfast supporter of the UN and its activities; why the role of Lester Pearson in creating the concept of peacekeeping earned him the Nobel Peace Prize.

It is why Pierre Trudeau challenged the Cold War consensus in 1970 by establishing diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China; why he was champion of dialogue between the rich and poor nations of the world, and a vigorous supporter of international development assistance programs.

Since 1993, our government has made concrete progress in advancing the Canadian agenda abroad. We can take credit for spearheading the Ottawa Convention on landmines, which came into force in 1999. The treaty will save tens of thousands of lives. As a result, children will be able to play safely again in war- ravaged regions all over the world where landmines have turned playgrounds into killing fields. To date almost 140 countries have signed the convention.

We played a key role in the creation of the International Criminal Court. Which is bringing war criminals to justice. We have remained at the leading edge of the movement to forgive the debt that is owed to us by developing nations. So they can make badly-needed investments to upgrade education and health care services for their people.

Ladies and gentlemen, I could not help but reflect upon the legacy of Canada on the world stage. Because it struck me in Quebec City that La Gran Familia of the Americas was embarking on an embrace of Canadian values on a hemispheric scale.

We took an historic step to strengthen democracy throughout the Americas by making the commitment to democratic government a condition for participation in the Summit of the Americas process. Not long ago, such a pledge would have been unthinkable. There were 19 dictatorships in the Americas. Military coups were common place. But on the weekend 34 nations formally agreed to abide by a Democracy Clause.

We reaffirmed our shared commitment to building greater prosperity for all of the people of the Americas by renewing our resolve to create a Free Trade Area of the Americas by 2005.

And we did this with an unprecedented level of openness and transparency. We followed through on our pledge to reach out to those who have very real concerns about these negotiations. I believe that, in time, our gesture of making public the negotiating texts for the free trade area will clear up any misunderstandings and refute baseless criticisms about a process whose only goal is to improve the quality of life of our people – of all our people.

Launching these negotiations was a bold step. An expression of our faith in the dynamism, talent and energy of our people. A vote of confidence in ourselves. This is not a statement of corporate interest. It is a fact of Canadian history.

We developed quickly because we opened ourselves to trade and investment from around the world. We achieved one of the highest standards of living in the world. And with prosperity as our foundation we have made key social investments that have broadened opportunity and enhanced our quality of life. We have enjoyed the benefits of more open trade and we want to see them shared by all.

But all of the nations of the Americas recognize that our efforts to strengthen democracy and promote prosperity will not, by themselves, bring about the shared future that we all want.

We recognize that governments must retain the ability to respond to unique challenges and priorities. And that they must take specific and concrete actions to promote the inclusion of all citizens in the social, political and economic life of their nation and of our region of the Americas.

In this area, too, we made substantial progress at the Summit in Quebec City. Indeed, through the Plan of Action we agreed to focus on realizing human potential and enhancing social inclusion. We also placed a high priority in our cooperation on reducing poverty, protecting the environment, promoting the adoption of labour standards, and encouraging corporate social responsibility.

And we agreed to take action that would broaden access to education and health care, promote the equality of men and women and strengthen cultural diversity, as well as dialogue with the indigenous peoples of the Americas. And we resolved to put the information revolution and the Internet to work to help us achieve our shared goals.

Ladies and gentlemen, Quebec City was a signature moment for La Gran Familia of the Americas.

And I would like, at this time, to express my deep appreciation to two people in particular for our success: Marc Lortie, my personal representative during the Summit preparations; and, Patrick Parisot, Special Advisor in my office and a very good friend. They are not well known. But in the last two years they have lived out of their suitcases and seen very little of their families; working night and day to make sure that our people were well-served by the Summit and that it went according to plan.

I will always be grateful to them for their extraordinary effort

Before I close, I must also tell you that what we did in Quebec City was much more than a showcase for the common purpose of the Americas. It was a showcase for Canadian democracy.

Despite the provocation of a small group of extremists, the elected leaders were able to do their work. And the thousands of people who came to Quebec City to peacefully express their real and legitimate concerns, as is their right, made their point.

This would not have been possible without effective, intelligent planning and action by the police forces. I want to say, again, how proud all Canadians can be of the way that the police handled those violent protesters -- with persistence, calm and restraint. So many of the leaders told me how impressed they were. That it was a model for how to handle such meetings.

That is what democracy is all about. That is what Canada is all about.

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